I made my own white modelling chocolate for the first time but it has turned out too soft despite following the instructions.  I bought a good quality chocolate but noticed when I was breaking it up to go in the microwave that the centre was quite soft and creamy, could this be why the end result was too soft, should I stick to a bog standard supermarket type white chocolate instead? Many thanks for any advice.

Am I right when I say that it sounds like you used a candy bar with some kind of soft filling to make your modelling chocolate? If so, definitely stick with a standard white chocolate - chips or chunks or in a block form. You can use any kind of white chocolate but the amount of the sugar syrup needed to achieve the right consistency of modelling chocolate is different from brand to brand. Sometimes you have to tinker with the recipe a little to get it just right. You can read more about it here: http://www.wickedgoodies.net/2013/01/how-to-make-modeling-chocolate/

Thank you. It was a bar of Swiss chocolate and had a sort of fondant type centre.  I tried again with a block and this batch has turned out too crumbly.  I am having trouble understanding the ratio between chocolate and syrup as I don't want to make too much to begin with. I'm looking to practice on 100gram batches but don't know how much syrup that entails. Any further advice please?

AAs WickedGoodies said the ratio will vary from brand to brand. For white modelling chocolate I use 1 cup of light corn syrup to 1kg of white chocolate (I use Callebaut callets/chips). The key is to make sure the chocolate and the corn syrup are the same temperature when you mix them. So you may need to warm your corn syrup slightly and also let the chocolate cool slightly after melting. You also need to stir/fold slowly until both have just combined. If you stir it to quickly or for too long the oils will start coming out of the chocolate. I suspect this is why yours is crumbly. It can take a few attempts to get it right, but keep at it :)

• Agreed with lindseyjhills in terms of how to mix your batch of modeling chocolate effectively. 

Sometimes a perfectly good batch can give the false impression that it's too hard or crumbly at first. Give it a good kneading before deciding for sure. Check out the first video here and notice how my modeling chocolate is quite stiff and difficult at first but becomes malleable and cooperative with some kneading. Video is sped up but total actual kneading time for that much modeling chocolate is about 1-2 minutes depending on how strong your hands are >>http://www.wickedgoodies.net/2013/07/how-to-roll-modeling-chocolate-videos/